By the Sea
by EnjolrasForever
Summary: The Last of the Wine by Mary Renault. That scene where Lysis and Alexias are on the beach, and have a moment. Told from both Alexias's and Lysis's point of view. You don't need to read the book to read this; it's otherwise just some nice homoerotica.


Author's Note: Alexias's point of view is taken directly from Mary Renault's The Last of the Wine. Lysis's was written by me, with a few obvious sentences taken directly from the book for artistic effect.

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><p><strong>ALEXIAS<strong>

_Lysis and I rode off together along the coast, the blue sea beside us and the red rocky shore all broken into little bays. At one of these, after a long gallop, we drew rein; and looking at the clear blue water, threw our clothes off with one accord, the water was brisk at first and warm after, and we swam far out to sea, till we could see Poseidon's temple at Sounion standing against the sky. Lysis was the faster, his wrestling having strengthened his shoulders and arms; but he waited for me, as I did in running for him. We rested on the water, then swam shoreward, and in shallow rock-pools tried laughing to catch fish in our hands. But as we walked out of the water afterwards, I felt a sharp pain in the side of my foot, and found it bleeding. I must have trodden on a broken shell or a potsherd, for the cut was deep. Lysis knelt and looked at it while I leaned on his shoulder. "This will give you trouble," he said, "if you fill it with grit as you cross the beach. It might well cost you a crown. Wash it well in the sea, and I will carry you over to a place where a horse can go." For the beach was stony._

_I sat on a flat-topped rock, and trailed my foot in the sea. The water was clear, and the blood unrolled in it like smoke in a blue sky. I sat watching it till Lysis touched me on the shoulder and said, "Come". I leaned back for him to take hold of me, and fastened my arms round his neck. But he did not carry me; nor did I let him go. We spoke without sound each other's names. A gull screamed over us, an empty sound, to tell us we two were alone upon the shore._

_I said to my heart, "What mighty power hast thou been defying?" Truly love may be likened to the Sphinx of the Egyptians, with the face of a smiling god and a lion's claws. When he had wounded me, all my longing was to leap into his darkness, and be consumed. I called on my soul, but it bled away from me like salt washed back into the ocean. My soul melted and fled; the wound in my foot, which the water had opened, streamed out scarlet over the wet rock._

_I lay between sea and sky, stricken by the Hunter; the fiery immortal hounds of Eros, slipped from the leash, dragged at my throat and at my vitals, to bring the quarry in. It seemed to me now that my soul was here, if it was anywhere; nothing remained to me of what I was, save this, that I remembered I had promised Sokrates a gift. He whom I loved knew my mind; perhaps it was his own. We were still, understanding each other._

**LYSIS**

I left him washing his foot in the sea, and trotted off to get the horses. I was worried about him. It wasn't good for a runner to have a foot injury, especially if he was thinking of going out for the Isthmian games. My worst fear, of course, was that it would become infected, and need to be amputated. I would do anything to avoid that.

I truly loved my Alexias. We had been happy companions for a year now. He was a joy to be around – smart, and easy to talk to. Even when he was childish, as was inevitable given an age difference of eight or nine years, I didn't mind. It was a joy to be able to mould him into the man that he would become. Alexias was budding into a glorious warrior, and he was ever so _beautiful_.

Alexias was at the prime of his youth. I had, admittedly, taken notice of him when he was a lad of just fourteen. I'd seen him racing in the palaestra with the other youths, and couldn't take my eyes off him. There was a reason the folks of Athens called him Beautiful Alexias. Indeed, if Sokrates had not convinced me to wait, I would have seriously pursued him as my eromenos then.

It was well that I waited two years. Alexias had had time to enjoy his boyhood and, during that time, he became even more beautiful. He already had those gorgeous bright blue eyes, and dark curls that were simply begging to be touched. But as the next two years passed, he trained his body into something a god would be proud of.

He was lithe and supple, and all of him was lean muscle. He was not terribly tall or big, but that only added to the clarity of his beauty, and his boyish charm. Indeed, as I neared the place where I had left him, I saw that he was trailing his foot idly through the water, as a schoolboy would who had played hooky for the day only to find that there wasn't much more to do than sit waiting by the stream for his friends to join him.

I approached him, and lightly touched his shoulder. "Come." He leaned back and wrapped his arms around my neck, ready to be carried; and just as I was about to take hold of him, our eyes met. We spoke without sound each other's names. A gull screamed over us, an empty sound, to tell us we two were alone upon the shore. It seemed that I could see the depths of his soul; and I felt that mine was laid bare to him. I kneeled next to him on the rock, took his face between my palms, and kissed my dear Alexias.

He responded as eagerly as usual, happily drawing me closer. I embraced him and deepened the kiss. "Mmmpff," was his reply. We explored each other's mouths for a while, not at all frantically, but almost languidly. We took the time to enjoy one another, and when we finally pulled apart, our kiss-plump lips trailed saliva.

I started to nibble at Alexias's throat, and he mewled in pleasure. I pushed him down onto the rock, straddling him; and then I kissed slowly down his neck, and pressed my lips liberally to the hollow of his throat, and his collarbone. I treasured Alexias, and I wanted him to feel as if he was treasured. We'd never done anything more than kissing before because I wanted him to know I was in love from the soul, and not, as they say, with the love of the Agora. So every touch and every caress was slow and careful – loving and not lustful.

I took his hardened nipple into my mouth and teased it with my teeth and tongue. My dear eromenos let out a gasp, and I kept at it for a bit before moving on to the other. Then I kissed my way down his hardened abdominal muscles. Alexias's sinuous form rippled as his breath quickened. I stopped before I wandered too low, and came up to meet Alexias's eyes.

I stared admiringly at the youth beneath me. Alexias was brightly flushed, his lips plump and red, and his cheeks burning. His blue eyes were bluer than the Mediterranean, though dazed and heavy-lidded with lust. His breathing was labored, and heat radiated off of his body. I gazed glazedly down at his muscular form, and the line of hair leading to his growing erection. Eyes wide, I heaved a great breath in awe.

The boy was so _young_. Just seventeen, and brimming with vitality. Alexias was fresh as a flower. He was plump and juicy as a ripe plum. Fertile as the richest soil on Crete. His very youth was intoxicating, and he glowed with life. I longed for him.

I kissed him again; with such raw emotion that I felt him slightly recoil. When I pulled away slightly, he breathed my name. "Lysis," he whispered heavily. I looked up. He caught my eyes and said just two words: "Be gentle."

My eyes widened, as I took his meaning. I knew that he was a virgin, so I had not expected him to… My look had obviously voiced my question, for he nodded firmly, and leaned up to kiss me in confirmation. I kissed him gently, affirming that I would be everything he had asked for, and more.

I nuzzled and nibbled at his neck, and Alexias sighed, pleased. Then I began. I ground our hips together in a slow smolder and felt the heat build. Alexias groaned, and bucked into me, desperate for more friction. I increased my pace, and soon our chests were heaving, and our members needy and sensitive. Alexias was clinging to my shoulders for dear life, nearly overwhelmed by all of the new sensations. "Lysis!" he cried out. "Lysis, take me!"

I needed no further invitation. After slicking my fingers with pre-cum, I prodded one gently into his entrance. He clenched his eyes shut against the pain, and I pecked and patted his knee, and cooed him soothingly. I hated to see my Alexias in pain. When he nodded, I added another finger, and began to scissor, and move in and out. He was tense with discomfort when I brushed against that spot inside of him.

His eyes fluttered open and he gave a tiny gasp. I smiled, and pushed against his sweet-spot hard. He gave an uninhibited moan, and pushed himself down on my fingers. When I slid my wet digits out of him, he whined his disappointment. I positioned myself at his entrance, and slid slowly into the hot, tight cavern. I saw stars. I am sure I cried out unabashed at the throbbing heat around me. Slowly and gently, just as my Alexias had asked, I began to move. As I sped up, Alexias clung desperately to my back. His pretty little moans sent shivers down my spine. I could feel the heat coiling in my abdomen. Finally, the pressure became too much. With one final thrust, I released into Alexias, just as Alexias came for me. He whom I loved knew my mind; perhaps it was his own. We were still, understanding each other.

**ALEXIAS**

_He let me go, and, kneeling beside the rock, covered the wound with his mouth till the bleeding stopped. We were silent, he kneeling in the water, and I lying like the sacrifice on the altar-stone, blue sky burning my eyes. After a while he bent and rinsed his face and got up smiling. "The Thracians when they swear friendship mingle their blood, or drink it, I forget. Now we are really one." He carried me over the shore to the horses, and tore his tunic and bound my foot. It healed cleanly, and I was running again in a couple of weeks._


End file.
